Serge Gnabry signs three-year contract extension at Bayern Munich

Serge Gnabry has signed a new three-year contract extension at Bayern Munich which will keep him at the club until the end of the 2022/2023 season, the Bundesliga side have announced.

The 23-year-old has become an integral part of Niko Kovac’s side since breaking into the team at the start of the season.

Gnabry has scored eight goals in 29 appearances for Die Roten this campaign and the Germany international’s performances have earned him a new deal at the Allianz Arena.

He told the club’s official website: “I’m feeling very, very much at home here. It’s great fun to play for this team. Of course I hope for many titles and great moments, and I’m looking forward to a good future with FC Bayern.

“In terms of football, things are going very well for me at the moment, but I know I still have room for improvement and that I’ll have to continue to get better.”

Gnabry came through the academy at Stuttgart before Arsenal signed the forward as a 16-year-old in 2011, but he struggled for first-team football and was offloaded to Werder Bremen in August 2016.

He lasted just one season at the Weserstadion before joining Bayern, although he had to bide his time with a fruitful loan spell at Hoffenheim last season, where he netted 10 times in 26 games in all competitions.

Kovac, who admitted Coman gave his side a “a different dimension”, admitted too many of his players may have had the Liverpool game on their mind as they conceded the opening goal after just 14 seconds.

“We struggled to get into the game,” added Kovac on his club’s official website. “I can’t remember conceding a goal so early and that was very annoying.

“It was more clear-cut in the second half. Taken altogether it was a workmanlike, but deserved, victory. Maybe some of us had Liverpool on their minds – it’s not good but it’s human.”

New Colombia manager Carlos Queiroz is concerned over the lack of playing time for star player James Rodriguez at Bayern Munich – and warned that the 27-year-old must be playing “as much as possible” to be at his best for his country.

Injuries and Bayern manager Niko Kovac’s preference for Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka in his first-choice XI have limited James’ appearances this season, after the Colombian had enjoyed a fruitful debut season on loan at the Bundesliga giants.

The January window came and went without a move away despite speculation that the playmaker was growing frustrated in Munich, with James due to return to Real Madrid this summer at the conclusion of his two-year temporary deal – though it’s unlikely he stays in Madrid past the summer window, as well.

Queiroz, the former Portugal, Iran, and Real Madrid boss and a Manchester United assistant under Sir Alex Ferguson, was unveiled as Colombia’s new manager on Thursday, and spent time discussing his talismanic player’s current struggles during his introductory press conference.

“I will need to talk to James. For a player of his calibre he needs to be playing as much as possible, that’s very important,” Queiroz told reporters, as reported by Goal.